Monthly Archives: May 2017

It’s “Finals Week” at the university. Today wraps my first year as a college professor and I can honestly say I liked the gig. As I write this, my students are taking their final exam in my “International Music Industry” class. We covered trends in the music business around the world: music consumption, censorship, the ins and outs of live touring, technological advancements. How and why do I know this stuff? I guess I have always been fascinated with the business of music. I love it. Teaching this course gave me reasons to research and study up further and create modules that would be relevant, interesting and yes….fun. For the past few months, I found myself constantly clicking on international music business news links that crossed my path on the world wide web. One thing led to another. I clicked on music industry growth charts, articles on the resurgence of vinyl, copyright cases and took notes. I never imagined I would be an instructor at a university, but I find I am well suited for it and at this point in my career it made a lot of sense. I found that I am passionate about teaching and that my students both inspire and motivate me to be my best giving self. This month each student gave a presentation on a foreign country’s music scene. Everyone, and I mean everyone, earned an A on their presentation. There were so good. I was so proud that I talked about them to anyone who would listen. The week following the presentations they took to the stage in front of 1500 audience members to open for Joan Jett in the university’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Show. They were spectacular. Like all endings, this one feels a little sad. Some of the students are graduating. Will I ever see them again? It’s a small world in this business of music; something tells me I will.